


12:37 AM

by nonbinarytaemin



Category: Mamamoo
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Being gay in the snow, Drabble, F/F, Finals Week
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-01
Updated: 2016-02-01
Packaged: 2018-05-17 16:06:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 993
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5877067
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nonbinarytaemin/pseuds/nonbinarytaemin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"It's late," she says. </p>
<p>"I'm dying, Hyejin," Wheein says, rolling over on the bed and looking at Hyejin upside down. "I can't study anymore. This room is killing me."</p>
            </blockquote>





	12:37 AM

“Hey.”  
  
“Hey what.”  
  
“We should go for a walk.” 

Hyejin glances at the clock on her dresser. It’s 12:37 AM, and her final paper isn’t any closer to being done than it was at 11:37 PM. “It’s late,” she says.

“Who cares!” Wheein says, flopping dramatically back onto her bed. A stray chemistry textbook wobbles on the edge of the mattress.

Hyejin looks at the clock again. Little pixelated snowflakes hover around the time, which now reads 12:38. “But it’s _cold_.”  
  
Wheein throws a pair of gloves in Hyejin’s direction, barely missing her head. “I’m _dying_ , Hyejin,” she says, rolling over on the bed and looking at Hyejin upside down so she can grab her coat off the floor. “I can’t study anymore. This room is killing me.”  
  
Hyejin sighs, glances down at her word count, feels a headache forming between her eyes. “Okay, fine.”

The chem book crashes to the floor as Wheein jumps to her feet, smiling. There’s an awkward shuffle of books and clothes as they both try to locate their winter clothes in the tiny dorm room. Hyejin finds Wheein’s beanie, the blue one with the ugly knit flowers, and shoves it onto Wheein’s head, forcing it down over her eyes.

Wheein just laughs. Her hair is a mess of frizzy waves when she pulls the hat off, and her eyes are crinkled up at the corners in a smile, and Hyejin’s already forgotten about her word count.

They take the stairs down, stepping over students surrounded by books and laptops and empty cans of Red Bull. Wheein makes disapproving comments about good kids who are still working, and Hyejin gets several glares for laughing too loudly and interrupting the studying.

Wheein pushes the front doors of the residence hall open excitedly. She takes one step onto the pavement and nearly slides straight down the sidewalk with a yelp.

“It’s icy,” she says, clutching at the railing with one hand and Hyejin’s shoulder with the other.

“Dork,” Hyejin says affectionately. They shuffle down the front steps onto the grass, where at least the snow gives them some traction.

Campus is almost silent – the windows of all the buildings are lit, but everyone’s shut up inside, no doubt panicking over the first day of final exams. Wheein falls silent too as they cut across the street. Hyejin can hear the crunch of ice and snow under their boots and the distant rattle of cars speeding along the main roads.

There’s a river that cuts through campus, dividing up the east and west corners, and they head toward it in silence, the route so familiar it doesn’t need discussing. Wheein’s breath puffs out of her in little clouds of frost, and she seems so small, huddled in her puffy jacket. On instinct, Hyejin wants to put her arms around Wheein, wrap her up away from the cold, but she doesn’t want to disturb the peaceful silence between them.

It starts to snow again just before they reach the river. The brick buildings of the college fall away into a thin line of trees, and beyond that the river bank, lined with streetlights and glittering with snowflakes. Wheein stops at the edge of the path to fumble with her phone through her thick gloves and take a picture. “For Byulyi,” she says. She takes another, turns the lens and tries to take one of Hyejin, laughs quietly when Hyejin smacks her hand away.

They step off the path, stop at their usual spot along the railing, built in a feeble attempt to stop students from swimming in the river. Wheein pulls herself up to stand on the lowest bar, leaning over the dark water.

“You’re gonna slip,” Hyejin says, but she steps up to the bar herself, bumping shoulders with Wheein. Below them, thin sheets of ice float over the surface of the river, not quite frozen solid.

“That piece of ice looks like broccoli,” Wheein says, pointing at a chunk floating past.

Hyejin snorts. “No it doesn’t.”  
  
“It does! It looks like weird broccoli.”  
  
“You look like weird broccoli.”  
  
Wheein laughs. The high sound echoes across the river, and Hyejin grins. Wheein’s never liked her own laugh, calls it embarrassing, but for Hyejin it’s comforting, familiar.

They fall silent again, watching the river carry its ice south. When Wheein speaks up again, her voice is softer. “Break is gonna suck this year,” she says.

Hyejin turns to look at Wheein. Snowflakes have landed in her poofy hair, and her cheeks are stained pink from the cold as she stares out across the river. “We won’t have to worry about exams,” Hyejin says.

“But it’ll be so boring,” Wheein insists, wrinkling her nose. “I’ll be all by myself.”  
  
“You’ll have Yongsun and Byulyi to hang out with.”  
  
“Yeah, but you won’t be here.”  
  
Wheein turns to look at her and Hyejin realizes suddenly that she’s been staring at Wheein’s lips. “Gonna miss me that much?” she asks, voice soft.

Wheein nods, shuffling closer and pressing up against Hyejin. “I don’t like not having you around,” she says. She’s close enough that Hyejin can see drops of melted snowflakes on the bridge of Wheein’s nose. It would be so easy to close that distance.

Hyejin reaches out instead, fumbles for Wheein’s hand until Wheein meets her halfway and laces their fingers together. It’s a little awkward, between two pairs of gloves, but Wheein’s hand is warm against Hyejin’s.

“It’s only for a couple weeks,” Hyejin says. “And then I’ll be back with you.”

Wheein’s eyes are still on her, and Hyejin hopes there’s something unspoken that Wheein catches in the words.  
  
“I know,” Wheein says.

It’s Hyejin who turns away first, looking back over the river, but all her thoughts are on the gentle press of Wheein’s hand in hers. The walk back to their dorm is quiet, Wheein keeping a grip on Hyejin’s hand so she doesn’t slip again.

**Author's Note:**

> 900 words of me waxing poetic about the winter experience i didn't get to have. i love girls with snow in their hair.
> 
> i know this is just a tiny drabble, but you should let me know if you like it. if you also love girls with snow in their hair we could probably be friends.


End file.
